


Family Business

by actualpenguin



Series: We Are The Resistance [2]
Category: La casa de papel | Money Heist (TV)
Genre: Andres is a mess, Drunken Confessions, Family Fluff, First Kiss, First Meetings, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Martin loves himself, Misunderstandings, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-22
Updated: 2020-07-18
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:40:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 9,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24862444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/actualpenguin/pseuds/actualpenguin
Summary: “What? You’re kidding, I’m an engineer! Not some… teacher” Martín quickly said“Well, you will be if you want to be on the team” Andrés calmly repliedOrAndrés hires Martín for his new project in a really professional way but both end up having not too professional feelings towards each other
Relationships: Berlin | Andrés de Fonollosa & Professor | Sergio Marquina, Berlin | Andrés de Fonollosa/Palermo | Martín Berrote, Palermo | Martín Berrote & Professor | Sergio Marquina
Series: We Are The Resistance [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1721005
Comments: 10
Kudos: 49





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So this is the second part of the series but you can read it as a stand-alone since this is where the AU truly begins.
> 
> In this universe Sergio is 18, Andrés is 26 and Martín 25.

Sergio didn’t imagine his life was going change so much, for years he was just a sickly shy kid, and one day his father died and his half brother, Andrés, appeared out of nowhere, changing his life forever.

So now he was studying in a boarding school in Barcelona while Andrés lived in a cottage in France.

“Really Andrés? A funeral?” Sergio said walking calmly, wearing the uniform of the school.

“How else I was going to take you out on a Thursday” Andrés replied, leaning on the car parked in front of the school.

“You could’ve waited for Saturday” Sergio opened the door and sat in the copilot seat.

“Oh, that’s boring,” Andrés said getting on the car “I also told them you were close to our ‘aunt’ so you better look sad when you come back”

Sergio rolled his eyes, it was weird the time Andrés came back to Spain, ever since his last business made the police come too close he had moved to Toulouse, a small city close to Spain, so Sergio could visit him during the weekend, or they agreed to see each other somewhere.

They went to have lunch to one of those fancy places that Andrés loves so much, Sergio was intrigued of why he had decided to appear during a weekday, he felt something bad was coming but he wasn’t sure exactly what.

“I met someone” Andrés started

“Oh, that’s great for you”

“No no no, not like that, she’s not that” Andrés smiled “Actually I’ve been single for a while, I must admit it’s nice, I don’t have much free time so that’s also—“

“Andrés…” Sergio intervened when he realised his brother had lost track of whatever he was going to say.

“Right, well, she’s an artist, a quite uncommon type of artist”

“She makes falsifications” Sergio replied quickly, sometimes Andrés loved all that drama around telling a story or making a plan while Sergio was the contrary, he liked direct stuff.

“Yes! You’re ruining the fun part of the story! Anyway, she’s the best falsifier I’ve met, amazing job”

“And…?” Sergio was starting to lose his patience, and Andrés knew this, he liked to take his time, even more, when he knew he was pissing off his younger brother.

“Well, she is amazing for my project” he simply replied with a smile and Sergio understood everything, including why Andrés was giving a lot of emotion for the story.

“The one of the paintings?”

“Yeah, I found something,” Andrés said quite happy, taking out a folder from his coat and sliding it to Sergio, Andrés had been planning something for the past year, five years ago someone had stolen five of the rarest Vermeer and Rembrandt paintings from a museum in London, the thief had vanished, he or she never attempted to sell the paintings of steal another thing so the police didn’t have any clue of who was the responsible, at the end everyone forgot that event and no one tried to search anyone, except for Andrés.

Sergio had learned from the beginning that the case had intrigued Andrés so much that he had been searching for years among his contacts if anyone knew something, and now, finally he had found someone.

“Are you sure?” Sergio said observing the photos and reading the documents it was a she, a curator of an art museum in Palermo, Italy, she had a quite normal life, lived in a house near the beach with her family in the house her father, a rich banker, had inherited her, probably the heist had been a fun challenge and that explained why she never felt the need to sell the paintings.

“80%”

“Well, in my opinion, everything here points that it was her” Sergio closed the folder

“Oh yeah”

“And when I’ll help you?”

“You’re too young for this, you don’t know how to deal with any of this”

“Of course I know, don’t you remember I used to help you?!”

“No! You came with me” Andrés said calmly

“And I helped you”

“Touché,” Andrés said drinking his wine “still, this is too much for you”

“I’m not a kid anymore, Andrés” Sergio replied, he was tired of being the younger one, he knew Andres wanted to protect him but sometimes it felt suffocating.

“Talking about that, how are you feeling with this last year of high school?”

“It’s all the same, many are worried about university admissions”

“And you?”

Sergio shrugged focussing on his plate of food, he had decided a long time ago what he wanted to do, and he was sure Andrés wasn’t going to approve it.

“I don’t feel that’s my life” he finally said

“Not you life?! Sergio, you could go to any of those fancy places like Oxford or Harvard or… I don’t know, any of that!”

“Yeah for what? For a life behind a desk? I could do so much more on the other side of the line”

“Is not that easy, this life is not as simple as you think,” Andrés said

“Then teach me” Sergio kept insisting “I’m good for that and you know it, you and I could plan the biggest robbery in the world and retire the rest of our lives”

“Yeah, but this is too much for you, this life implies being something I’m sure you don’t want to become, and this heist is so much for you, it even includes moving out to Italy and you have a life here, a school to focus, a future, would you quit to that”

“Yes!”

“Sergio—

“There’s nothing for me here, and—“

“No, this is not what you want, this is my type of life but not yours. That’s why I want you to go to university, Sergio, our lives are so different, you have a bright future ahead and I have what I’ve always done, we have to move on”

Sergio looked at him angrily, stood up and left. Andrés had pictured he was going to get angry but not that furious.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sergio is decided to be part of the plan no matter what.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One episode away from Martin's appearance

Andrés was calmly sitting on the living room, since he was alone his studio was the whole house, with papers and stuff everywhere, this new thing really excited him, it had been a while since he had done any big project.

Sergio didn’t call the rest of the weekend, he probably had gone back to school or simply to the flat Andres had shown him in case they needed to hide or stay in Barcelona, he wasn’t worried at all, Sergio was totally capable of surviving by himself, he was probably going to disappear a few days before contacting Andrés again, it wasn’t their first fight, after all, that’s the thing of having brothers.

That’s why, when Andrés heard a knock at the door, he immediately imagined he was in trouble, he quickly took the gun he hid under the table and walked carefully to the door.

“Who is it?” He said, moving slowly and placing a gun against the door.

“It’s me, Andrés, no one follow me,” Sergio said on the other side, he was dressed in normal clothes and had a backpack and a folder with papers.

“What the—“ Andrés opened the door quickly, leaving the gun on the table next to the door “what are you doing here!? It’s Wednesday!”

“I know,” Sergio said, pushing Andrés out of the way softly so he could enter to the house, Andrés was surprised Sergio could remember the exact place, it was quite hidden and he had just been there twice, but he had managed to travel from Barcelona to Toulouse, Andrés looked outside to see who had brought him and he saw the motorcycle, oh, now he was sure who has behind this.

“I’m serious Sergio, you must be at school” he closed the door and walked where Sergio was unpacking his things.

“Not anymore, you’re going to Sicily, right? And you really want me to go to university, well, the University of Palermo is accepting international students and I already sent my application” he placed the paper on the table.

“Where did they get that you finished high school?!” Andrés asked reading the paper.

“Isabel might have helped me to falsify the papers”

“Oh, so now you’re using my contacts?” Andrés asked offended, this boy was getting smarter and he didn’t love that.

“That’s how this world works, right?”

Andrés gave him an angry look and Sergio understood it had been too much.

“And you realised you don’t speak Italian?”

“I leant French in 6 months, I’ll learn Italian in 3”

“Jesus, Sergio! You’re the biggest pain in the ass I’ve known” Andrés said rubbing his face, normally he would’ve been proud, he was always surprised when Sergio had these genius strokes and managed to move the whole world to get what he wanted but this time it worried him, he was just trying to protect him and Sergio wasn’t cooperating, in the end, he wasn’t anymore the fifteen-year-old he met, “and what are you suppose to say to the school? That you’re dead?”

“I already took care of that” Sergio said, moving his hair backwards and taking off his glasses, he had one cut on the nose and a purple eye, and judging by his knuckles he assumed Sergio won.

“What the—” Andrés approached, taking his chin so he could move Sergio’s head to observe the cuts closer.

“Went with the football captain, who happens to be the director’s son and told him a few things at a party, turns out he hates losing a fight”

“Goddammit, Sergio!”

“So am I in?”

“No!”

“What?”

“No! Jesus! This is too dangerous for you!”

“Oh, you always said that! But you didn’t have any problem with bringing me with you when I was younger”

“Cause I didn’t have anyone to stay with you!”

“Oh, I wasn’t a kid! You’re just… justifying yourself! I’m better and you’re afraid to admit it”

“You know is not that”

“Then?!” Sergio said, he was angry.

“Because he made me promise it, okay?! The last time I saw your father he told me he didn’t want you to be involved in this life!” Andrés said, he was disappointed, he never had much appreciation for the man but when it concerned to Sergio’s security he wasn’t going to hesitate, at the end the man was right, he shouldn’t deny that.

“But he’s not here anymore, he’s dead,” Sergio said, quite coldly

“Still, he was right, this world is chaotic and lonely, you don’t want this”

“Who says that? That I don’t want it, right now it sounds better than my other option. People spend years studying to have a salary, a salary that, at best, is still a salary, a shitty salary. I don’t want that”

Andres observed him, this was an honest reaction, he knew Sergio had those thoughts ever since the beginning, it was no surprise this and he was right, he could be damn good at it, even if Andrés didn’t love the idea it started to feel like it was too late to stop him, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

“I guess you’re coming with me” Andrés patted his head, making Sergio angry, enough revenge for now, “Also you’re getting a tutor”

“But—

“No, that my condition,” he said walking upstairs, this had been enough for a day “Also you’re sleeping on the couch, I’m still mad at you for making decisions without consulting me”

He hated to admit that Sergio was right, he could understand how bad it felt looking at everyone from the bench while they were having fun, his mother had just tried to stop once when she found out he was getting involved with bad people, and that was all, she never really had the energy to deal with insisting more, and now Andres was here, trying to be different, to be good for Sergio.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow brotherly drama


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first meeting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I will be busy for the next three weeks and I'm not sure if I'll be able to post on Monday so I decided to post an extra chapter today.

The weather in Berlin was nice, cold but not freezing, it was almost autumn.

They had rented a house outside Berlin with a big yard surrounding it and a weird old barn that right now helped to hide the truck, it was a nice house, quite similar to the one where Andres and Sergio used to live, even the kitchen was similar, just a bit more spacious, something that Andres was enjoying.

Cooking with him was something Sergio enjoyed too much, he wasn’t nearly good he was terrible, while Andres was amazing and did all those crazy dishes from different cultures, even creating his version flawlessly Sergio wasn’t even capable of cooking a decent soup, his task when they cooked was to chop vegetables or move the soups, something simple, it didn’t bother him at all, he knew that if he invested time he could learn to at least not burn the meat, but he didn’t have any interest in learning something so boring, the only reason of why he helped was because he was helping Andres.

“You turned off the oven?” Andrés asked putting the dishes in the sink.

“Yeah,” Sergio said, “why?”

“You guys ready?” Ágata appeared, she was the falsifier Andrés had met, she knew a lot of people around the world and was helping him to assemble the team.

“What’s that smell?” Andrés asked

“Oh, Mirko and the other are testing some gunpowder, just ignore them,” she said casually, Ágata had brought two of her men, they were more the mercenary type, but great for any hard work that could appear.

“Oh, Good luck today, hermanito” Andrés patted Sergio’s back as he finished to pick up the kitchen “What about the engineer?” 

“He will be here tomorrow,” Agata said, taking an apple “I’m pretty sure you’ll like him”

“He’s the crucial part of the plan, so he better be good”

“Of course, when have I disappoint you? You’re gonna love him” Ágata smiled “I’ll wait for you in the yard, sweetie,” she told Sergio and he just nodded, leaving his coat and notebook over the table and walking outside.

They had agreed that if Sergio was going to get involved he needed to know a few more things, including how to use a gun, she had offered to teach him the basics, like how to assemble a gun and stuff related, she was a good teacher and Andrés knew that she had all the patience he didn’t have, and with all the planning Andrés didn’t have time to teach his brother how everything worked.

“Someone is outside asking your name” Mirko appeared just passing through the kitchen to the back yard where the other was.

Andrés walked to the main door, outside there was a man, waiting calmly, not too tall, blondish hair, blue eyes, wearing a leather jacket, he opened the door and the man immediately looked up to see him

“Excuse me” he wasn’t from here, the Argentinean accent betrayed him “I’m looking for Andres de Fonollosa”

“Who’s asking?”

“Oh, my name is Martín Berrote, I’m the engineer”

“Nice to meet you then” Andrés shook his hand and opened the door so he could enter.

“So, what’s the job?” Martín asked almost as soon as the door closed

“Oh no, it’s not that easy, I’m quite strict with my crew” Andrés smiled him before leading the way “are you coming or not?”

Martin followed him, walking closely and observing around, they were preparing a truck with the stuff that they were going to need, Mirko and Radco, the two guys, were going to drive it to Rome, where they were going to hire a boat to take it to Palermo, it was crazy but good enough to avoid the police or anyone who could ask questions.

“How many jobs have you done before?”

“Three” Martin replied quickly

“And how do you know Agata?”

“At a bar” Andrés turned to see him “not what you think, believe me, but we stayed in touch, I help her when I bored”

“Right” he kept walking, Martin had an energy that caught his attention immediately and Andrés was still deciding what it was “And why are you interested in this?”

“Just looking for a reason to stay more time in Europe, I just finished university and I’m having fun here”

“Which one?”

“What?”

“In which university did you study?”

“The University of Palermo, I didn’t know you wanted my full CV for these types of jobs” Martin teased him and Andrés smiled him “y’know, that makes me better for you project since I’m familiar with the place”

Andrés nodded and kept walking calmly.

“So… am I in?” Martín asked after a couple of minutes, they arrived to the other side of the house, where Sergio was with Ágata.

“You’ll be tested, three months, I’ll give you a decent salary meanwhile”

“Okay…” Ágata mentioned he was a weird man but Martín didn’t imagine this “and what I’m gonna do?”

Andres pointed at Sergio, who was practising how to assemble and disassemble several types of guns on a table in the middle of the yard

“You see that guy? The one with the glasses” Martin nodded “his name is Sergio, he has three months to learn Italian and to pass his admission exam to the University of Palermo, tutor him and you’re in”

“What? You’re kidding, I’m an engineer! Not some… teacher” Martín quickly said

“Well, you will be if you want to be on the team” Andrés calmly replied

“I-I don’t know anything about teaching!”

“Don’t worry!” Andrés patted his shoulder “Sergio is quite smart and capable”

“To be honest, he looks like if you push him, he breaks”

“Oh yeah, but he broke someone’s nose and managed to get expelled from high school, he’s not what you think” Martin actually looked surprised and had to look again at the skinny guy fighting to put the bullets inside the cartridge “yes or no, I need an answer now”

“I- yes, I will do it”

“Great” Andrés smiled “We’ll see you in Palermo next week, Martin”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to know why Andrés chose Berlin as his alias and this is my answer


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First day at Palermo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyway I'll start posting twice a week cause why not

Martín had walked for minutes now, he had to accept it, taking a cab would’ve been easier but when he received the information that the house was near the coast he didn’t expect the “near the coast, far for civilisation” part, and the fact that it was over a hill didn’t help at all, he wasn’t a fan of sweating and now he was a big mess.

He finally found the house, a big old Italian countryside classing was just at the end of the way, with a truck parked in front and a bunch of boxes, so he was sure it was the place, he still wasn’t sure what it was all about, but he didn’t care, he loved adventure and knew that Ágata was careful to choose who she worked with.

He walked inside with them, observing everything around, was he suppose to ask for someone or...

“Mmm scusi…“ he said softly observing around.

“Martin!” Andrés appeared descending the stairs, he looked perfect, wearing a navy blue suit and perfectly combed, totally contrary to Martin, yeah, the cab would’ve been a good plan.

“S-sorry the door was open” he stuttered almost dropping his backpack, stupid, he felt stupid, blushing like some idiot teen, he barely knew Andres, but he wasn’t blind, he knew how to recognise a hot man when he saw one.

“Don’t worry, let’s go, Sergio is still not here but I’ll give you a tour” Andres walked upstairs and Martín quickly understood he had to follow him

The house was big, five rooms and a big terrace was the top floor and then a big kitchen, outside it also had a pool and a big yard, it was a calm place, really nice to plan a heist.

“We also have a small flat downtown, Ágata and her team will stay there,” Andrés said as both walked through the yard.

“Why not here?”

“First we need an operation base near civilisation and secondly she says she hates living with a bunch of people and only trusts her... brothers, I guess? They are too united to be just friends”

“They are cousins, the three of them,” Martin said quickly

“Oh! how do you—“

“I dated one of them years ago,” Martín said calmly, Andres looked at him surprised “What? I like strong men” Martín shrugged and Andres smiled “and you have a cover?”

“Just a small family who inherited his grandmother’s land,” Andrés said stopping in the middle “Well, this is the place, you like it?”

“Sure, is nice,” he said simply, he didn’t care much, he wasn’t quite exigent in where he lived or what he wore, Andrés seemed to the contrary, a suit and the type of place he had rented told him that he wasn’t the man that liked small and discreet things, he was dramatic, glamorous, something told Martín that he was probably alone in that boat since Sergio didn’t look even similar to Andrés.

“I’m glad you like it I’ll show you you’re room”

“MY WHat now?!” Martin asked quickly totally confused, okay, was this a kidnap? He supposed he was going to stay in the flat with the rest of the team, not with them.

“Your room, I told you, you will stay with us while we execute the plan”

“You never mentioned that!”

“Really? Mmm, details, let’s go, shall we?” Andrés started to walk back to the main house, Martin didn’t feel comfortable with that, he loved working with this stuff, yes, he enjoyed heists more than anything, but he had never gone camping with one of his coworkers, okay, probably the time he and Mirko went camping to the woods could count since they were coworkers at the time but they had been also dating so it didn’t count at all.

His room was at the end of the hall, quite big and better than anything that the flat downtown could offer, it had a single bed and some shelves, the big window that gave to the yard was the best, Martín had to admit he loved it.

“Everyone is already here if you want to come” Andrés interrupted

“Right,” he said leaving his bag on the bed and followed Andrés once more downstairs.

“Ay, mi Martín, sweetie, how are you?” Agata jumped to hug him when he appeared, they didn’t great each other back in Berlin since she was working and he was basically in a job interview.

“I’m fine, I’m glad you guys are part of this too”

“We are glad to have you” Mirko put his hand on his shoulder and Martín smiled, behind that mercenary mask he knew how nice Mirko was and he truly was glad he knew the big majority of the team.

“And don’t worry about being alone just with these guys, we will come every day” Ágata patted his back.

“Now I can formally present you to Sergio” Andrés pointed at the young man sitting far from everyone in a corner, writing something in a notebook, he lifted his sight, pushed his glasses with his finger and gave him a shy smile as he stood up.

“Let’s go, I’ll teach you where we can study”

He followed Sergio to a room next to the dining room, it was a weird place with piles of books, boxes and a table with two chairs

“Well, kid, I hope I can help you” Martín sat, taking out the books from his backpack, he silently thanked he kept his first Italian notebooks.

“Thanks, I already have the basics and don’t call me kid”

“Okay” He smiled, he was surely the youngest who was trying to leave that roll “Why don’t you tell me what you investigated”

Martín couldn’t understand all at that moment but what he saw was that he was going to be part of something bigger that was he saw.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Martín and Sergio need to be besties and that's all


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Martín gets interested in Andrés

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is short

“So… how are Andrés and you related?” Martin asked, looking at the sunset, today they had decided to study outside and Martín silently thanked that he didn’t like the idea of being inside, locked in a room.

Sergio was a nice student, quite easy to deal, he did all the heavy job so Martín was just there to check some stuff, he didn’t understand why Andrés had hired him, Sergio was capable of doing all that by himself.

He liked him, at the beginning Martín was sure Sergio was just another young man with big expectations and zero talent, he had seen many of those, trying this type of life just for the adrenaline or because someone had told them it was easier, and it wasn’t, but certainly it was funnier and more exciting than a normal one.

Contrary to them, Sergio seemed to know perfectly in what he was involving and was committed to it, he had methodic ideas and big procedures happening inside his head all the time, the guy was quite obsessive with… everything, it also made it easy to piss him off, Martín was starting to enjoy that.

“We work together” Sergio replied not paying attention, he was focussed trying to solve the next unit of the guide for the exam.

“Just that?”

“You already know the answer so why are you asking me?”

“So you are brothers,” Martín said, he had deduced it the first day, and even though it wasn’t a secret he wanted a confirmation, just mere gossip… and maybe extra information about Andrés.

Sergio lifted his sight for a moment “yes”

“Oh okay, nice” Martin stayed quiet, he had to be honest, Andrés provoked his curiosity, so much that it made him accept the job.

When Ágata called him and told him she needed someone Martín wasn’t convinced at all, he was planning to go back to Argentina and spent more time with his sister, now that their parents were gone he felt he could go back now, but when he was Andrés opening the door he knew he needed to be part of the operation.

“is he… single?”

Sergio lifted his face, with a confused look, Martín realised he wasn’t expecting that question cause he looked genuinely surprised, he didn’t know Sergio much, but he was sure he didn’t like personal questions, after some seconds he processed the question and went back to his book.

“I… never know anything about Andrés love life, one day he comes with a new girlfriend, the other it turns out they broke up, so don’t ask me,” Sergio said quite calmly.

“Oh, okay, fine… just curious about the man I’m working with” Martín shrugged looking away.

“I’m pretty sure just that” Sergio muttered as he read the next exercise “here” he put the book in front of Martín and started to pick up his things.

“Yeah, you’re good”

“Okay, thanks” Sergio replied and Mirko appeared and waved at them “I’ll be ready in five minutes,” he told Mirko running into the house to change his clothes, Martin stayed, deciding whether to stay there or go inside and find something to do when Andrés appeared, looking fresh as always, he came from the gold club, that was obvious, Andres had been working with something there but Martin didn’t know anything else, the plan was still a secret, Andrés and Sergio were quite private with everything right now so at the moment the rest of the team had really specific tasks that alone looked quite ridiculous, Martin one was to teach Sergio Italian, for some reason.

“Hi” Martin smiled and Andrés smiled back, sitting in the chair where Sergio previously was.

“So how’s Sergio going?” He asked after a while

“Oh, he’s excellent”

Sergio appeared running, Mirko was helping him to learn self defence with not so conventional methods, all the afternoons they practised, sometimes Martín observed them from his window or the kitchen, it was funny to see Sergio trying his best to win against a man that was two time his size.

“You play?” Andrés asked pointing at the golf set next to him.

“What? Golf? Nah, definitely no, never tried and I really don’t have any interest”

“Why? You could be good”

“Well, first of all, I need a good teacher, right?” Martín said winking at him.

Andres laughed and continued observing his brother losing spectacularly against Mirko, Sergio was better than during the first days, also he was used to deal with someone who fought clean, like Andrés and Ágata, but these other guys didn’t stop to give him a chance, Andrés was sure that was going to help him a lot.

“Arms up, Sergio!” Andrés shouted at him

“I like his technique” Martín said observing Sergio

“Sergio?”

“Yeah, he fights quite clean, that’s the problem actually”

“He’s too methodic, he needs to stop thinking everything a hundred times”

“Eh, he’s smart, I’m sure he will learn this quickly” Martín relaxed on his seat, both falling into a comfortable silence, it was a nice afternoon, quite warm and Andrés was a nice company.

“I could teach you” Andrés broke the silence “my membership allows me to bring friends so you could come with me

“Sure, why not, I guess I can try and discover if I’m good or not” Martín replied trying not to sound surprised, sometimes he thought Andrés didn’t like him, he could be quite cold or completely ignore him some days, but apparently that’s how he was.

Suddenly a loud thud interrupted them, it was Sergio, lying on the ground while Mirko laughed.

“No no no, Sergio, you’re doing all wrong” Martin stood up quickly “you’re smaller than him, you gotta use that at your favour”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm obsessed with young Sergio trying to be like his brother


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Martin loses hope

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So my job went crazy and I have 0 free time but I'll try to update this thing

“You finished early,” Andrés told him as he passed in front of the room where they were planning the heist, right now just two people had full access to that room and were Sergio and Andrés, at least till they had something substantial to show to the others, Andrés these days was spending his whole day outside, making friends with the curator in the golf club near there, while Sergio planned the main part, so it was surprising to see him at home so early.

“Yeah, he just gave me some tips for the exam” he replied absently entering to the room, reading what Andrés had already put, he was listing the materials they needed.

“You think you can pass the exam?” Andrés kept writing.

“Of course! I can even do it without Martín”

“We both know why he’s tutoring,” Andrés said

“Yeah, yes, yes, I know”

“Talking about that, how’s he doing?”

“I guess he’s fine” Sergio replied, too much Martín for today, he felt that Martin was truly unpredictable and could explode at any moment, but he had to accept it, he was a nice guy and smart too.

“Is he… happy? Here?” Sergio gave him a weird look, Andrés didn’t ask stuff like that, he couldn’t wait to go back to school and stop dealing with other’s people lives.

“If you’re so interested in Martín you should ask him yourself”

“Of course not” he stopped writing calmly, cleaning his hands from the chalk “I’m just asking, I wanted to know how he is adapting”

“Well, it sounded like if you were about to ask me if he’s single”

“No, no! Why would I care… I’m not even his type” Andrés quickly took the chalk and went back to writing something, Sergio knew he had something, Andrés was outside his comfort zone.

“And you want to be?” Sergio asked trying to sound sympathetic, he was terrible with human emotions, Andrés was too, both avoided to talk about that, it was like a silent deal between the two of them.

“What? No! Of course not, hermanito”

Okay” Sergio shrugged and took out his notebook to write what he had been planning “you know I wouldn’t mind”

“What?”

“If you… ever date… a man, I don’t mind, I’m pretty sure everyone here doesn’t mind”

“I know that,” Andrés said, he knew Sergio was trying his best, trying to play his role of comprehensive brother, “but I assure you I’m not remotely interested in Martín”

“Right…” Sergio said, observing his brother, he was glad that talk was over, for now, cause something told him this was going to keep going.

“Hey, I’m ready” Martín appeared out of nowhere, at the door, knocking softly.

“Oh, I’ll be downstairs in a second” Andrés told him and Martin disappeared as quickly as he appeared.

“Where are you going?” Sergio said quickly.

“I’ll teach Martín to play golf, nothing important we’ll just spend the afternoon at the club” he left the room quickly.

Martín was already waiting downstairs, next to the car, both got in and Andrés started to drive, it wasn’t quite fair, the golf club was just five minutes away from their house.

It was a fancy place, a nice building with a pub and a cafeteria full of rich people who were probably retied and wasting their days there, Martin was observing everything, trying not to look surprised, for the sake of their cover, he had never had that type of life, but honestly, he could get used to, now he could understand why Andrés liked to spend the afternoons there.

“I didn’t know you were this type of guy” Martín teased him as both walked to the field with a bunch of golf sticks that Martín didn’t understand their use.

“That visits these clubs?” Andrés asked and Martín nodded “I’m not, but I can be if the situation requires it”

“So what’s the situation now?”

“You’ll see” Andrés winked him and kept walking, this was going to be an interesting afternoon, he was happy to spend time with Andrés.

“Oh, Andrés, you’re here, I thought it wasn’t going to see you” A woman approached them out of nowhere.

“My dear, I was hoping to see you today” he greeted her happily and suddenly Martín understood, she was the ‘situation’ that Andrés was talking about, great, this wasn’t how he planned to spend the day with Andrés, “This is Martín” Andrés voice saying his name brought him back to reality.

“Hi,” Martín said quickly, shaking her hand.

“Oh, what a pleasure, I’m Alexandra”

“She’s the smartest woman I’ve ever met,” Andrés said with a smile.

“Oh, you’re giving me a lot of credit, by the way, I wanted to invite you to my birthday party, I’ll send you the invitation” She was a pretty woman, older than them, that was for sure, and it was obvious that she truly belonged to that high world, the way she walked and dressed told Martín that she was probably the daughter of one of those rich old men, he couldn’t see what Andrés saw in her, surely she was smart and an art expert, since it was all they talked about, but apart from that she was one of them, them being the high class, fake and empty, Martin didn’t like her.

The rest of the day was ruined since she decided to stick with them all day, with Andrés basically since Martín decided to ignore them, this wasn’t how he imagined spending a day with Andrés, he had to admit that for a second he thought that the invitation to the golf club had a different purpose, something more private between them, not spending the afternoon with Andrés new… girlfriend? well, what a waste of time.

This wasn’t the first time he confused someone’s intentions, Martín was terrible with it, even if he took the hint and actually made a move, most of the times he got too big expectations and scared to other people away, at this point, he was seriously considering getting a bunch of cats and stay the rest of his life single, living in a small flat in a miserable city, it was a good price to pay if it meant no more broken hearts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not proud of making Martín suffer


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And this is their plan

“Oh hi, you need anything?” Martin asked when Andrés appeared in the room where they usually study, it had been a week since he had interacted with Andrés, these days Martín had to accept that he was avoiding him, it wasn’t that he blaming him for not noticing him, it was more a protection method, he was tired of getting his heartbroken over and over again, and he was sure if he let Andres in knowing that he had no romantic interest, things were going to finish quite terrible.

“No, just searching information,” he said lifting a pile of books to search whatever he was searching “Sergio usually is our information library but he’s been quite busy with the admission papers”

“Yeah, the exam is next week”

“You think he can pass?”

“Of course! I don’t even know why you hired me, he’s quite capable by his own”

“Oh, just his punishment for planning to get out of school without telling me”

“So I’m that? A punishment” Martin said playfully.

“Of course not, but he’s more complicated than that”

“I guess” Martin packed the rest of his books “he’s a weird human”

“You know what? There’s something I’m sure you can help us” Andrés pointed upstairs and Martin followed him without asking any questions, they walked to the room next to the stairs, it was the planning room, Sergio and Andrés spent hours inside doing god know what while everyone got bored outside, and since now he wasn’t allowed to be in, he guessed it was an important issue.

The inside was crazy, there were five small desks and a big one at the front, with a chalkboard, like a classroom.

“The house used to be a school, I guess, judging by this room,” Andrés said, it silently scared Martin how Andrés was capable of reading his thoughts perfectly.

“And you kept the decoration” Martin replied, there was a list of materials written on the board and papers with photographs and notes all over the other walls, it was a confusing system but he was starting to understand that each brother had in charge a different part of the plan.

“Sergio’s idea, everything has an order and he forbade me to move anything, you know how crazy he can go if we play with his stuff” Andrés smiled “so, what do you what to know first?” He leaned on the desk

“Well... first of all, I want to know our target, since I’ve been here three months without knowing shit”

“Five Rembrandt and Vermeer paintings that were stolen from a Gallery in London,” Sergio said from the door, startling Martin.

“The ones that vanished?”

“They didn’t… vanished” Sergio said

“Well, there were no traces of who did it”

“Until now” Andrés pointed at the picture of a woman on the wall, it was the same of the club that was talking to him, he smiled, so at the end, Andrés wasn’t completely interested in her as Martín thought.

Under the pictures of her, were a lot of data about her life, connections, daily routine and her name, Doctor Alexandra Russo, art history PhD, curator in the art museum and part of a really important Italian family.

“And how could you be so sure? A rich elite girl suddenly decides to play mission impossible?”

“We are sure” Andrés pointed at the wall behind Martín, it was full of evidence that it was her, emails, phone calls transcriptions, receives of materials to put the frames, things so insignificant that Martin couldn’t believe they had found that.

“So I guess she never sold them” Martin was fascinated by the whole place, these guys were in another level.

“No, according to the investigation she has then in a special chamber inside her house,” Sergio said with his hand on his pockets.

“Oh wow, and what’s the plan?” Martín sat on one of the chairs as Andrés stood up to explain him.

“Well, there is really no information about how the chamber is protected so we need to find out that, and we will do it by going to her birthday party, you remember she already invited us?” Andrés pulled out a fancy paper from his suit “after that things get… fun, we already ordered the last generation printer, which will allow us to generate a perfect copy of each painting to put instead of the original one, which we will steal”

“Well, this is a really big art project, I don’t see why you need me”

“For the technical part” Andrés patted his shoulder “the printer is quite big so we can’t introduce it to the house, instead we will copy them outside, all with a secret and safe conduct, a tunnel, which you will design” Andrés pointed at a table with the blueprints and more papers that Martín could need, will all his previous jobs he had to work with minimum materials, a lot of times not even with the real blueprints, so it was nice to finally be able to have nice tools.

“You’re taking a lot of trouble, why not just taking them and forget about the rest?” Martin replied after reading the papers, the house was secured with a hundred things, and the chamber was quite protected, located right at the centre of the house, this wants going to be easy

“Because each painting is worth 15 million euros and leaving them there will allow us to sell them without suspicious, by the time she notices her collection is missing we will be really far from here,” Sergio said, Martín already had forgotten he was there, “Andrés” Sergio pointed outside the room, Andrés followed him “why did you tell him? I thought we weren’t going to say anything till next week, once we had everything clean?”

“Oh, c’mon, we needed another brain and Martin is the one, he can help us,” Andrés said calmly going back to the room, Sergio just observed him, not convinced but he knew he wasn’t going to win that battle and it was late, Martin already knew all.


	8. Chapter 8

Andres and Martin seemed to click immediately, soon they were making jokes and having breakfast together, like old friends who knew each other since forever.

“I didn’t know you cooked” Martín appeared in the kitchen, he had been working on the tunnel the whole weekend, it was nice to finally have something to do, and something he was good at, he loved the plan as soon as he heard how many details they had taken on count.

“There are still many things you don’t know” Andrés smiled him, and Martin approached the stove, he cooking pasta with other stuff, he didn’t know anything about cooking, he was bad no matter how hard he tried, cooking didn’t seem to be his place at all.

“Have you seen my notebook?” Sergio appeared out of nowhere since he entered to the school he was barely at home, half his days were school and the other part were practising with Ágata. 

“No, but you should forget it and run, you’re late,” Andrés told him, Martin liked to observe their interactions, it was fun to see Andrés as this cold, calculating guy who cared a lot for his little brother but tried to hide it really hard.

“Right, I must go” with that Sergio disappeared as soon as he entered. Martin sat calmly with his plane on the table-

“Talking about that, eat fast, we have an appointment in an hour” Andrés started to pick up the kitchen.

“Appointment?” Martín asked confused

“Yeah, to check the materials of the printer, after that we’re going for dinner”

“Oh” 

“What?” Andrés turned to see him, he wasn’t expecting that answer.

“You’re serious?” 

“Yeah, can’t two friends who are planning a robbery together go out some time?” 

“So we are now friends?” Martín asked innocently, it was hard to determine what Andrés thought about him, the man was a true mystery, he was nice with him but Martín was sure it was mere amiability until now

“At least for me you are” 

“Yeah, sure, I’ll get ready” he put the last bite in his mouth and ran upstairs, this was two friends having dinner and no more, it was just Andrés being friendly, Martin was trying not to get excited over a simple invitation but he felt special, Andres didn’t look like the guy who went out with friends, so that meant something, right?

Martín chose his best clothes and walked to the door, where Andrés was already waiting for him.

It was a silent ride, Martin didn’t dare to ask much and Andres didn’t say a lot, till they arrived to a fabric store near downtown, a nice old man received them and walked with then till an old warehouse at the back of the shop.

“Are you into art, Martin?” Andres asked once they were alone.

“Not at all, I’m a bit more into the mathematics part” he smiled, following Andres through the place, he was really focussed on the fabrics, touching then and looking through each

“Well, then I’m sure you don’t know the importance of a good canvas for a painting, you see, when choosing a canvas there are several things to consider, such as fabric, texture, and priming. All of these have an effect on the quality of the canvas and what kind of painting it is most suited to” he said happily, the rest of their time there was Andres rating about how linen is considered the best due to the quality of the surface and its durability, however, it is also very expensive, and how cotton is a more affordable option that provides an excellent surface of suitably durable quality.

Martin discovered that he liked to listen him rant about art, he never cared about the art world, even after arriving to Europe he never cared but now listening to the whole thing from Andres made him feel genuinely interested. After buying a ridiculous amount of fabrics that Andres said were necessary, they drove to a nice restaurant near the beach.

“It's your turn,” Andres said as they ordered their food

“Of what?”

“To tell me about your job, you know some stuff about me but I barely know things about you, for example, what’s an Argentinian doing in Italy,” he said leaning on the table towards Martin, waiting to hear a story.

Martin smiled and told him how he ended up in that part of the world, it was quite comfortable to talk to him and Martin had just noticed, there was something in Andres that attracted him strongly, more than his charisma or the fact that he seemed to know a bit about everything.

They arrived late that day, Sergio was doing some self defence techniques with guns with Ágata and the others, he looked so weak next to the big men.

“He’s trying too hard,” Martín said as both stopped to observe them from the kitchen.

“I know,” Andrés said, he was observing his brother with attention, Sergio has been practising non-stop for almost a year, he actually could balance school, gun practices and planning together. 

“And he’s good” 

“The best I’ve seen” Andrés replied “but you can’t tell him” 

“What? That he’s good?” Martín chuckled turning to see Andres to understand what was he talking about that.

“Yeah” Andrés looked at him with a totally earnest look “I don’t want him to get involved in this world, I know that what’s he wants but this is not his place” 

“Well, I think is his choice at the end, and honestly… I’m sure he can defend himself” Martin said and for a brief moment he could see how Andrés was worried about Sergio, it was something he knew before, it was easy to see, how he cared for his younger brother, but this time it was different, it was a different level of protection. 

“he’s too young to see what’s the best for him,” Andrés said returning to his normal self, that cold, careless face that he always used “Don’t forget that we need to check what we will use for the party, next week,” he said walking away.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the night of the party

The party was boring as hell, mainly because Andrés was talking with everyone while Martín watched him from the bar, he also didn’t have a lot of interest in socialising with a bunch of rich people so he decided to stay behind just waisting the night by getting drunk with really posh drinks.

“You’re good?” Andrés appeared patting his arm, he looked great, wearing a dark red suit that Martín was sure was going to be part of his dreams for the rest of his life.

“Sure, I’m waiting till midnight so we can leave,” Martin said honestly, making him smile, he had chosen a more simple style, just a normal suit that Andrés had chosen him, “You already have what Sergio commissioned us?” 

“Of course,” Andrés said patting the pocket of his suit, “what do you think I was doing talking with all those women” he offered his arm and both walked calmly through a less crowded part of the house, with painting on the walls.

“I don’t know, flirting?” Martin asked, yeah, he had drunk a lot, Andrés just smiled him and continued walking calmly, admiring all the paintings from which Martin just recognised one.

“I see you’re admiring my art collecting” Alexandra Russo appeared, talking to Andrés who let go Martín’s arm as soon as she appeared.

“Of course, you have a fascination with impressionism”

“Well, it’s not the only things I collect,” She said walking towards the stairs with Andrés behind, great, now Martín was all alone again.

“You like him,” a voice said quite near to his hear that it made him jump, he turned to see Ágata en a beautiful green dress, they made another fake invitation so she could enter too, pretending they didn’t know each other of course.

“What? Who? No” Martín said quickly, of course, he didn’t like him, right, just admired him, Andrés was a powerful man and quite smart, it was impossible not to feel attracted.

“Of course,” she said returning to see the painting 

Andrés appeared back almost an hour later, smiling and almost bouncing, Martín had to accept he was jealous.

“Shall we?” Andrés pointed at the door and Martín followed.

“Good luck” Ágata told Martín softly.

They arrived to the house past midnight, Sergio was studying in the kitchen calmly, probably waiting for his brother to be back cause as soon as he saw them in, he started to keep his things inside his backpack. 

“Hello, hermanito!” Andrés said happily, rummaging into the wine cellar.

“How was the party?” Sergio asked. 

“Perfect, though, we need to correct some stuff of the plan, I’ll tell you tomorrow, meanwhile Martin and I will celebrate, you’re coming?” Andrés said shaking a bottle of whiskey.

“Oh no, I prefer to go to sleep” Sergio stood up “just don’t destroy the house, please,” he said walking upstairs and Martín actually wondered if Andrés, the man who looked perfect and flawless, had funny drunk stories.

“Well, I guess is the two of us”

“Oh, I’m not complaining,” Martín said taking two cups and following Andrés to the terrace upstairs.

They stayed talking about everything for an hour, Andrés was a nice company, he was more open now that he had been drinking, talking about how he met Sergio, Martín was fascinated to know all of this, about how normal he sometimes was even if he didn’t look like it.

“Hold a second, I brought something,” Andres said and walked downstairs, a few minutes later came back with a wooden box and two new cups.

“What is it?” Martin said excitedly taking the box, inside there was a bottle of wine.

“One of the best harvest of that year, and quite hard to find, “ he said proudly 

“Where did you get it?” 

“Courtesy of Mrs Russo”

“She gave it to you?” Martin said observing the bottle and trying not to sound jealous 

“Not voluntarily” Andres smiled and sat back to his place, placing the new cups and a corkscrew so Martin could open the bottle 

“You sure you want to open it?” 

“Of course, it’s a special bottle and this is a special day”

Martin smiled and poured some wine in the two cups, both sat more relaxed on the bench.

“It’s a great plan, all this” Martín said with a smile, they had been drinking all night and Martín more, he could feel how he was losing control of everything he was saying.

“You think?”

“Yeah, you’re really smart” 

“Well, you’re smart as well” Andres turned to see him and Martin moved closer.

“You compliment me too much” 

“Probably” Andrés shrugged “you don’t like it?” 

“Of course I do, is just weird to have a friend who does that” 

“What is weird about that?” Andrés looked at him innocently and Martín couldn’t help but smile.

“Well.... you make me feel... loved” he blushed

“And you’re scared?” Andres said with a low voice and Martin couldn’t hold it more, his lips landed on Andres, it was inevitable, the closeness, the alcohol, everything around had been a perfect mix to encouraged him to do something he had been waiting since day one, and then his mind came back realising what had he done, fuck! What if Andres hated him for doing that? 

He was about to pull out when he felt Andres kissing back, it was an innocent and sweet kiss until he felt Andres hand slipping into his hair, deepening the kiss by pushing his tongue inside, Martin placed his hand on Andres chest, his brain still fighting between going big or going home, he was sure that something was about to change between the two of them, and that Andres felt something too, but he wasn’t sure how far they could go that night. 

Just when he finally decided to take this further a loud crash interrupted them. Andrés quickly broke the kiss pulling away, avoiding Martín’s gaze.

“I should… go and check” he stood up quickly, fixed his shirt and disappeared through the door, leaving a very confused Martin alone.

**Author's Note:**

> So yeah, I write this at 3am because I don't care about sleeping lol
> 
> I wrote this with basically one braincell alive so it might have a lot of mistakes, I apologise in advance.
> 
> Also english is not my first language and this is clearly not beta'd.


End file.
